Return to Base
by tkelparis
Summary: Sequel to BMG's "Back to Base" and my "Eyes Forced Open." Jenny plots against Rose, the Doctor helps Donna deliver, and a surprise hits them all...
1. The Start of a Big Change

**Title**: Return to Base

**Rating**: T (a bit on the high side, be warned... and not always for happy reasons...)

**Author**: basmathgirl started this, writing much of the first scene and some of the pre-delivery moments, but the rest belongs to KendraC

**Summary**: Sequel to BMG's "Back to Base" and my "Eyes Forced Open." Jenny plots against Rose, the Doctor helps Donna deliver, and a surprise hits them all...

**Disclaimer**: That we even wrote this ficverse proves that neither of us has any claims to the Doctor Who universe... I just own a Disappearing TARDIS mug, two Doctor Who t-shirts, and some DVDs... BMG can claim, among other things, a few MAAN ticket stubs. (pouts)

Also, this is not a Rose-friendly story. If that bothers you, turn back now. Save yourself the headache.

**BMG's Author's Note**: I am very happy to leave this in the capable hands of KC. I have adored writing about Donna and Andy but I cannot face writing Rose with the Doctor... I just can't so please don't expect me to, especially after all the grief I have suffered because of this. KC has very kindly allowed some bits I wrote to sneak in here (I couldn't leave it totally alone, you see); so I shall hand you back to my lovely online daughter. :)

**KC's Author's Note**: When my on-line mummy mentioned that she wasn't keen about writing the sequel to "Back to Base" since it almost demanded Rose's presence (and she can barely stand to mention her, if I understand her correctly), my Muse picked up the thread and wrote a fic for her birthday. "Eyes Forced Open" was my take on what might happen after the end of "Back to Base," and BMG gave me permission to continue the story. So... Hope those of you reading this enjoy it!

* * *

><p>PART ONE: The Start of a Big Change<p>

They made their way back home, feeling very puzzled. Well, Andy and Donna were. Jenny spent the whole ride watching the sights to be seen from a moving car. Mikey provided her with a running commentary that kept her entertained. And would have kept his parents amused if their minds hadn't been preoccupied.

When they parked, Andy commented, "We don't have much space, so you'll have to either sleep on the living room couch or share a room with Mikey. Which would you prefer?"

Jenny paused on her way to the trunk, where her bags were. She glanced at Mikey. What would you like?

Mikey beamed and clapped his hands repeatedly. _Big sis Jenny with me!_

She smiled back. "Guess I'll share with Mikey for now."

Donna eyed the young Time Lady. "Are you sure?"

Jenny nodded. "I'd... like to watch how he thinks." Besides, she thought to herself, then he and I can plot about how to get rid of Rose...

As soon as they entered their house, Andy and Donna brought Jenny to the room where Mikey slept. There was one big bed – in addition to the crib and changing table – that they intended for when Mikey got older, or for the chance that they might have a guest.

Jenny looked around at the scene. "It's... so cozy..."

Andy smiled fondly at the room. "The bed used to be mine, back when we had the apartment. Not that I used it – or the spare room – for long..."

Donna swatted him on the side – as he was still holding Mikey. "She doesn't need to know that!"

But Jenny was curious. "Will you tell me what's happened since... you were left here?" That they'd made such a life with each other was a good thing, she could tell, and Mikey was so darling that she now couldn't imagine him not being there. So she found herself actually letting go of some of her anger at her father... which she hadn't planned on.

Donna and Andy blushed. "Um... Later," Andy promised. "When Mikey's not around to hear it."

Mikey frowned at them. Adults were really weird sometimes...

"Anyway," Donna announced, "you should find you have plenty of closet space. Do you have any clothes other than those from Messaline?"

Jenny frowned. "Not really. I picked up a few things here and there, but I don't need much."

Donna frowned. "Well, we have to change that! If you're going to live on Earth and hold down a job, you'd better look the part of a young lady."

Andy had to hide a tiny smile. This upcoming shopping trip could either be really entertaining to him... or a bit worrisome... After all, he did feel rather paternal toward his... Well, niece _and_ daughter...

Jenny was puzzled. "Guess I have a lot to learn about living on Earth."

Donna laughed. "Let's settle in a bit."

They went out into the living room while Jenny put her bags off to the side. "That was a bit weird, wasn't it?" Donna remarked to Andy as she bent to take Mikey's coat off for him.

When Jenny came back, Donna let him run, grab his sister and drag her over to help him switch the television on for one of his favourite programmes. Jenny had never seen a television, and was quite willing to join Mikey in whatever he was doing. All in the name of learning about Earth and her brother!

A pang hit Donna in the side as she stood again, relieved Andy was putting the kettle on. "You're quiet. What's worrying you?" she called out to him.

"Nothing. Not much anyway," he called back. "Apart from…" After a few seconds he appeared at the door. He tried to figure out how to put his thoughts to words – and not worry her. "Was it me or did Rose act funny?"

Jenny, thanks to her Time Lady brain and being female, could multi-task. So she listened in on her Mum's conversation while she watched the rather strange programme on the telly, as Mikey called it.

"Isn't that amount of pouting normal then?" Donna answered, arranging the cushions on the settee to get more comfortable. "Yeah, I'd say she wasn't keen on being there."

Andy sighed as he set up tea for three. "So it wasn't just me taking things in a different way… I didn't do anything to offend her, did I? I thought I was perfectly charming," he said anxiously.

Jenny frowned and turned to glare at him. "Why would you _want_ to be charming to _her_?" He'd better not _still_ be charmed by her...!

Andy raised a finger in warning, to explain a few things to their newest addition. "Oi. I got over her fairly quickly. Helped to be around your Mum every day, and see how she beats Rose in every possible way. I'm now convinced that what I felt – and therefore what your Dad felt – was more infatuation due to a number of circumstances. He's definitely an emotional innocent to be so taken with someone that immature. Having some of Donna in my mind, I was soon able to grow past that."

Jenny stared, a little uncertain about how much he meant it. And he picked up on that. "I wanted to show your Mum that I'm no longer affected by Rose's..." he paused, waving his hands as he tried to find the right word, and had to settle on "...charms." His sarcastic tone said _volumes_ about how he saw them as anything but now.

Donna felt... rather warm inside over this blatant proof that she didn't have to worry anymore. Especially when she thought about how Rose had reacted to him.

"I had no intention," Andy continued, "of giving her any more than her due according to the basic rules of civility. But it seems she didn't want anything to do with me, so I'll count myself lucky in not having to deal much with her. Just as well, because I _really hate_ getting headaches from having to play nice when I don't want to." And she didn't deserve it. Mikey could see her for what she is. Wish _he_ could've...

Jenny's frown completely disappeared. She nodded slowly, accepting the explanation. I wonder if I could get him to chat with Dad about this...?

Donna, the more she thought about Andy's words, felt a powerful need to reward him for them, and gave him a leering smile. "I think you are more than charming. If you want to come here I'll prove it to you!" _And show that you've made my year..._

He laughed with delight and sat down next to her. _God you're sexy! You are one hot mama._ He rubbed his nose along hers and then gently pressed a kiss against her full lips.

Jenny's eyes widened. She couldn't recall seeing anyone doing that before, and was stunned to see how they seemed to like it. Have they forgotten that we're here...? Do they do this often in front of Mikey...?

Donna immediately opened her mouth to let him deepen their kiss, and he took the invite. They groaned together. _Have you got five minutes to spare?_ she asked, drawing his body down.

Jenny's jaw dropped. Was this part of why there were so many humans...? They... really liked... swapping saliva...?

She was so (unwillingly) captivated by the sight, and they were so engrossed in the act, that no one saw the fourth person walk over as if he was oblivious to what was happening.

_Mummy! I'm thirsty_, Mikey told her, pressing a hand onto her knee. _Can Daddy get me a drink, please?_

Jenny suddenly wondered if Mikey had a habit of interrupting his parents in such acts. And whether it was a common trait among children – human or otherwise.

Donna broke from their kiss to answer Mikey. "Yes, darling. You are talking so much clearer now, you clever boy! All we have to do now is to get you to say something out loud," she enthused, stroking Mikey's head lovingly.

"Perhaps that was Rose's problem," mused Andy. "Mikey was babbling away to the Doctor quite happily, and I clean forgot that she wouldn't have heard a word."

And, Jenny thought with a raised eyebrow, we should be bothered to care because...?

"We didn't do that much, did we?" Donna asked, trying to remember as she kept stroking their son's head. "It's just that the Doctor seemed so keen for us to communicate telepathically that I didn't like to disappoint him."

"Yes, I did notice," he stated grimly.

Jenny was startled. Did Papa Andy seriously think that the Doctor could take Donna away from him...? It didn't make any sense considering what the TARDIS told her...

"Andy, darling, look at me. I know what you are worrying about, and I would never mistake him for you," she tried to soothe him. "He's smells differently, his touch isn't the same, and I don't love him like I do you."

"But you do love him," he accused her. He still remembered how she'd reacted when the Doctor had touched her that last visit. It made him sick to think about it...

She raked her fingers through his hair, stroking away some of his tension. "Yes, I love my best friend that I travelled with for a year; and I love the fact he gave me you. The most wonderful, gorgeous hunk of man I've ever known."

He smiled happily then. "I'm a hunk? Seriously?"

Jenny felt her stomach churn a bit. He isn't _that_ cute... And she promptly realized that _of course_ she'd feel that way: he was her second father, for God's sake!

"I'm very serious about it; especially if I'm provided with cups of tea as well," Donna answered.

"Alright!" he pretended to huff as he picked up Mikey – who loved helping like a big boy. "Bribery and corruption now, I see."

"As long as you don't mind getting your reward later, then 'yes'." She gave him a knowing wink. She was delighted to gain a growl in reply.

Jenny watched in stunned silence as the males left the room. Then she turned to her Mum, whispering, "He does remember that you two _need_ to stick together so your Time Lord minds won't burn up your bodies, doesn't he? Wouldn't my Dad remember that, too? He can't be _so_ stupid that he'd risk your life!" Hurt you, yes – he clearly did that already. But surely not the other thing!

Donna sighed. Clearly she had a lot to teach her eldest. "Love makes people more than a bit crazy. And let's face it: your father isn't the best at dealing with feelings. Andy got a lot of that from him, and I haven't been great at it, either, sometimes. I've been cast aside a lot, especially for blondes, and he has the memories of losing everyone he's ever cared about – up to this point in the Doctor's life. So don't you dare think it's insignificant!"

As inexperienced in life as she was, Jenny could hear a commanding tone well; legacy of being a soldier. She held up her hands, in a manner very reminiscent of her father. "Okay, Mum! I get it!" She lowered her hands, and had to ask, "Does Mikey do that often?"

Donna smiled wryly. "Oh, yes! Sometimes it's as if we're emitting some hormone that makes him want a drink at the worst possible moments. For us, that is." Then she thought about what just happened. "Oh, were you bothered by seeing us... like that?"

Jenny pondered how to phrase her thoughts. "I... thought it was strange. I've never seen people... touching lips before."

"Well," Donna decided, "I guess we have a lot to go over. But first, we'd better get you an identity. Andy and I can hack the National Database again, create documentation for you, and then we need to figure out what you're good at so we can go about finding you a proper job. We'll need the extra income to handle what we need to get for you, anyway. Oh! But we'd better have a good cover story to explain you to others!"

"Well, I want to call you 'Mum!'" Jenny was horrified at the sudden realization that she couldn't do that except in private.

Andy and Mikey came back in. Mikey toddled over with his sippy cup, happily drinking from it. "Well," Andy thought aloud, "I've got an idea. Since we've claimed that the Doctor is a much older brother to us, we acknowledge you as his daughter. We'll... say that your mother isn't in the picture in such a way that no one will dare ask. Hint that she walked out when you were a baby. And we know some people who call an aunt 'Mum'; those were cases of family keeping a child from going into state care. We'll figure out those details, and also say that you just got out of university and have come to live with us." He thought a second. "Oh, we'll need help faking that one..."

Jenny raised her eyebrows in confusion, and was startled when Mikey suddenly skipped over into her arms – settling promptly. Becoming a citizen of Earth was more involved than she'd thought... She just hoped that not much time would pass for her father; she wanted to make the most of the time _she_ had until the baby came.

After all... she had an annoying homewrecker to send packing...

Mind, she quickly got lost in the details of learning to live in a human household. And found Mikey's later exhaustion contagious... which led to Donna getting to snap an adorable picture of Jenny and Mikey curled against each other, asleep...

* * *

><p>The Doctor groaned as he heard Rose yelling from some hallway. She had barely let up once they were in the TARDIS after leaving Wilf's home. She took extreme exception to how he rebuked her, and he'd fled to the medbay to set up a pain-relieving device – which he'd started planning as soon as Andy had asked for his help – that he could attach to Donna's arm.<p>

Only when he was in the process of making it did her realize that Rose had lost track of him. And he remembered that the Old Girl loved playing pranks on his companions, including making them get lost within the numerous hallways.

Come to think of it, she did it more with Rose than _anyone else_. And _never_ did it to Donna.

Damn. I could've saved myself some trouble if I'd remembered that... No wonder my ship's been so mad at me... And the mental amused snort-like hum he felt confirmed his suspicions.

Although she couldn't be too mad if she helped him avoid Rose for a while. It gave him the opportunity to work in peace, and finish his medical masterpiece.

The TARDIS chuckled to herself. Her pilot was in for another rude awakening. Donna in labour was not going to be in a mood to be impressed by the Spaceman's antics...

Once it was done, he went to the Console Room. The device was safely in his pocket for whenever he sensed Donna's body was ready to deliver the newest baby.

And he just the feeling that he wasn't going to be able to stay away once he laid eyes on her youngest...

"There you are!"

Ugh. He rubbed his hands over his face as he heard her footsteps approach rapidly. This was Rose Tyler's version of the Oncoming Storm. Problem for her? It came off as just really annoying to a being who'd confronted actually scary creatures.

"God," Rose cried as she marched into the room. "I swear there are more additions every time I walk through the halls! What is the TARDIS up to?"

Evidently, the Doctor thought as he felt his ship getting _very_ amused over Rose's outburst, doing her best to make you angry enough to leave on your own volition...

When he didn't answer, Rose saw red. She'd tried to rationalize her Doctor's reactions to Donna Noble, but the Duplicate's behavior kept coming back to her. And then there was the Doctor's attachment to that horrid blond girl who thought it was impossible for her – Rose – to be good for him! Or to that... that boy whose existence showed an alternative outcome for her own story. And it wasn't good.

No, she wasn't going to lose him to these people! She had to redouble her efforts to make him see what had been so clear that glorious day when he chose her again!

The TARDIS could read every companion's thoughts – or at least the gist of them. (Donna's had always been the most interesting.) And the current thoughts of the girl she was being forced to house pushed her buttons. So she let loose with the same trick she'd pulled on the Doctor not too long ago...

"Ahh!" The Doctor screamed as pain hit him from nowhere, and only a quick, reflexive grab for a railing kept him from doing a face-plant into the grate. Again.

"Doctor!" Rose rushed over, touching his shoulders. "What happened?"

He pulled away and rushed through guiding the ship through the Vortex again. It took all his strength and concentration to focus to get them to where the mental thread he felt from Donna was leading him. It was time to meet the new baby...

Seemed the Old Girl was impatient... About more than one thing...

He just hoped that Rose's healthy fear of Sylvia Noble was enough to keep her from doing anything that would really make his family mad...


	2. New Arrival, and Prankster Siblings

**Author's Note**: basmathgirl deserves co-author billing for this chapter. She wrote nearly all of the birth stuff, and the delivery room moments. I added here and there, and put in Jenny's moments. Time to meet the newest Noble!

And a shout-out to mental_murmurs over at LiveJournal for inspiring a change I made to the end of this chapter...

BTW, basmathgirl wrote a LOVELY bit that we like to call a DVD extra to this story! It's set between the last part and this one. Please go read "Return to Base - a DVD Extra" before reading this!

/=/=/=/

PART TWO: New Arrival, and Prankster Siblings

"Is there any sign?" Donna asked Andy anxiously. She lay gasping on the bed, breathing as deeply as she could in the circumstances.

He got up and peered out of the window again. "No, love. There's no sign of him at all." He shook his head in sympathy. He could hope, after all, that maybe the Doctor would land somewhere out of line of sight. But given that things had lasted a few hours already since the first contractions made themselves evident, he was losing hope.

"But he promised!" she griped loudly. "He absolutely promised me he'd be here!"

Andy crossed the room to half lie on the bed, draping a consoling arm around her. "I know, love," he said, kissing her forehead. "It looks like conventional painkillers for you." He knew he'd failed to keep the tension out of his voice, and that Jenny had so far been critical to keeping Mikey from worrying too much over his mother's mental and aloud cries.

Mind, they wanted to keep Jenny from having to do too much. Besides, she was probably a little freaked over what she was sensing from Donna...

"The bastard!" she swore. "I hope he is rotting in a prison cell or a dungeon right now, because anything else means I get to kill him long and slowly."

"You know you don't mean that, and he can feel your pain so he'll be well aware you are in labour right now. If he has any sense he'll get here pretty sharpish to stop that happening again; unless he liked plummeting face first on the grating," Andy mused. He remembered that Jenny had been... rather okay with hearing that story. She'd all but said that it served him right.

Sometimes he worried about how much she hated the choices her father had made... Especially when she got this awfully smug look while she was thinking, a look that didn't fit with whatever was happening around her... And he'd chosen to not point it out to Donna, hoping that Jenny wouldn't do anything too insane.

When he had those thoughts, he'd clearly forgotten whose daughter she was...

/=/=/=/

The Doctor ignored Rose's exclamations and demands to know what was going on as he raced through bringing them to Earth. The TARDIS decided to make it a rough ride, which forced her to grab a random railing – which happened to be on the other side of the room – to keep from knocking herself unconscious against something.

The Old Girl could've sighed over the little brat's ability to preserve herself... And would've made the ride worse if she hadn't trusted that the past two months had been enough time for her Time Lady to figure something out...

And when the TARDIS touched down hard, the Doctor rushed outside – not even bothering with his long coat. Donna needed him – as fast as he could move!

And he also didn't answer Rose – again. He had no time or inclination.

The blonde gaped, but ran after him. Still calling out, "Doctor! Stop! Tell me what's happening!"

They'd landed just outside a hospital. The Doctor ran inside, ignoring all calls for him to stop and check in.

Rose, likewise, ignored them. Feeling like your dreams were slipping from your grasp made for a good energy boost...

Another mental trace – no, two! – suddenly hit the Doctor, and he couldn't help but smile when he rounded the corner and found Jenny – sitting on the floor – playing a card game with Mikey. Sylvia and Wilf were sitting in nearby chairs. "Jenny," he called out, "where is she?"

His daughter looked up. She'd tried to ignore him when she sensed his presence, but Mikey had started babbling happily. And the boy held out his arms. "Unka Doctor!"

It nearly made him skid, but he managed to slow down enough to kneel and scoop Mikey for a hug. _Clever boy!_

Jenny grinned, hiding her growing mischievous urge as she heard the footsteps racing toward them. "Room 12," she said, pointing off to her right as she quickly gave him a one-armed hug.

The Doctor gave an equally quick one in return – but filled with so much emotion that Jenny nearly cried despite herself. Especially as he rushed off, ready to flash the psychic paper at anyone who tried to stop him.

And when Rose appeared, panting and looking for him, she froze upon seeing Donna's family. Oh, God, no...!

Sylvia looked up with a glare. "The staff only allows the father back there. I'm sure the Doctor will come up with an excuse, but you won't be allowed back. Better take a seat; Mikey took his sweet time coming out."

Mikey looked at Jenny, confused. _Mummy will be okay, won't she? I didn't hurt her, did I?_

Jenny stroked his hair. _She'll be fine. Your uncle's here to help. And no, I doubt you hurt her at all._ It was a little fib, but babies couldn't help it. _Now... are you ready to make our plan happen as soon as I see a chance...?_

Mikey grinned, his own smile almost as wicked as his sister's...

/=/=/=/

The foetal monitor started blipping wildly, and Donna griped his hand with a deathly vice-like action. She groaned loudly as another contraction wracked her body and Andy tried desperately to quell some of the pain. The effort was knocking him for six.

"I'm here! Donna! I made it!" the Doctor cried as he burst into the hospital room. He immediately rushed to her side and placed a device on her arm. "There!" he declared, pressing a button on it with a flourish, and then adjusted his jacket. "Phew! That was a close one; I almost took another nose dive."

"Yeah, cos I was so worried about your nose," Donna commented sarcastically. Mercifully, the pain did lessen almost the instant after Spaceman had pressed the button.

Andy kissed her forehead. "Come on, love, you know you were actually concerned about him." _Thank you_, he told the Doctor as he felt the worst of the pain had gone. I can probably rest a little easier now...

"Only because I want to kill him first, before some other bugger gets him," she replied easing herself into the pillows. "He's not off the hook until this baby is in my arms. AND STOP BLEEPING ME!"

Some things never change, the Doctor thought as he put down the sonic screwdriver and gave Andy a sheepish shrug. "Everything is fine by the way. In case you wanted to know."

"Yes, thank you," Donna replied through gritted teeth. "Now if you could carry out the rest of your promise…"

"Oh that! Yes, of course," he answered, bounding forward to lay his hands on her stomach. A large grin spread across his face. "She's a little tinker, this one. I wonder where she gets her cheeky streak from?" I hope she's a ginger!

"Get on with it!" Donna groaned as another contraction washed through her, and squeezed hard on Andy's hand. Unfortunately proving that the device had a delay in dealing with new onsets of pain...

"Yes, I'd appreciate it, if that makes any difference," Andy added. "I'd like to have a whole hand left at the end of this."

Donna would have glared at him, but she was too busy suffering. "I'm doing my best to stop you getting this," she told him in a small voice.

_I know, that's why I love you so much_, he pushed at her. _Let me take some of the pain for you, darling. I can't bear to see you suffer so._

_No, I won't do that to you. You've suffered enough as it is with all my mood swings and cravings._

Donna's answer was a wave of love from Andy. _I don't care about any of that. All I want is you in my life_, he told her, mentally wrapping himself around her. _You and our beautiful babies._

"Come here, you," she whispered with tears in her eyes, and pulled his lips onto hers. Andy eagerly responded, kissing her deeply.

The Doctor gave them a cough. "I take it the pain had decreased then," he stated, trying to not think about how his hearts twisted at the sight of their emotional and physical intimacy. "Did you want me to actually deliver her?"

"I erm… I'm not sure…," Donna blustered with embarrassment. "It seems a bit odd getting you to touch me like that."

"It's okay, I understand. I'll only step in if the midwife asks me to," he said. Probably for the best, he thought, since Andy looks like he might punch me for doing so... And decided to change the subject. "So have you chosen a name?"

Donna smiled wryly and Andy merely raised an eyebrow over the obviousness of the question. But she had mercy on him. "We were ready in both cases. So we'll soon be greeting Effie Grace Susan Noble."

The Doctor's eyebrows tried to fly to the ceiling. The first name he assumed was a result of Donna knowing a lot about baby names, but the middles... The first was shared by a companion, the second by his granddaughter... And Donna would know that, he knew...

Andy's eyes softened, and the semi-smile he gave his twin confirmed that yes, they did remember.

He really hoped he didn't start crying once Effie made her grand debut... This was embarrassing for a Time Lord!

/=/=/=/

Jenny smirked as she watched – out of the corner of her eye – Rose Tyler once again try to plead her way past the nurses. Little twit has no idea, she thought with a secret grin, that I warned the staff about her... Aunt Martha might have a laugh; she'd get to feel completely superior – which she is!

Aside from thinking about what to do when this moment rolled around, life had been fairly good to her since she came to Earth. Mum had some good friends who cared about her and Andy. Including that nice Jean – who she quickly decided to treat as an aunt since her Mum had such affection for her, and Mikey liked her a lot (and little kids were apparently supposed to be excellent judges of character) – and Martha.

Those meetings had been interesting... Jean she met the morning after her arrival at Great-Gramp's home. That had been quite the lesson in local sayings, and in how careful they needed to be about what they said. Jenny was glad that fostering young family members was such an honourable thing in this part of Earth; it meant that no one raised an eyebrow over her calling Donna "Mum." Saved them a lot of questions!

Explaining how Mum was once with Dad and was now with Andy... That was another matter... But Jenny had saved her mother from embarrassment by being as quick with a cover story as her father was – but she was apparently a lot more convincing. And Jean had been a dear in teaching her about Earth things – without the woman ever realizing it.

As for Martha... Oh, had that been an interesting day... Just a few days after (the previous ones involved setting up Jenny's Earth identity), Donna decided that Jenny couldn't use her few clothes anymore, nor could she borrow from Donna's pre-pregnancy wardrobe. So she called a younger friend to help in selecting an age-appropriate wardrobe for Jenny. That was how she met both Martha Jones and Mickey Smith.

Oh, had Jenny wanted to laugh when she found out that Mickey, who had been tossed aside by Rose for the Doctor, had married Martha, who had accidentally been made to feel inferior to Rose... Well, she wanted to laugh after the anger she felt on their behalf faded and she saw the irony. The little twit would be shocked to see how far past her Mickey now was!

The shopping itself was interesting... and strange all at once. Aside from seeing all sorts of people around all the time and all of the noises (which sort of reminded her of some of the alien bazaars she'd been to), she wasn't entirely easy about some of the clothes a lady her "age" would likely wear. Dresses? Skirts? Bikinis? And she still didn't want to have to think too hard about the undergarments! But Martha had excellent taste, she had to admit, and she'd walked away with a good start for her Earth wardrobe.

A little research beforehand had allowed her to handle getting cosmetics and such. She'd only just gotten used to having to wear what amounted to face paint

Of course, Martha and Mickey had another motive in meeting her, evidently. They both worked for the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, whose primary mission was to guard against alien threats. The Doctor had worked for UNIT a few Earth decades ago, and so her new friends had been "instructed" to recruit her. They'd had a few incentives that they knew would influence her decision...

Pop (as she'd decided to call Andy) had been reluctant to let her have anything to do with an organization that used guns, but when that... giant flirt arrived to try recruiting her into Torchwood... Jenny had been unsure what to make of Jack Harkness at first, but hearing the story about his actions toward her father and about his pan-sexual nature... She was quickly grossed out. And eventually, Pop had agreed that UNIT was a better choice. After all, she could help Martha and Mickey while she truly figured out what she was best at.

And those two had helped her figure out her fake degrees: a bachelor's of science in anatomy, astrophysics, and electrical engineering (basically, the three subjects that she'd needed to know the most about to handle what she had on her own...); and a double masters in the latter two subjects. Her cover story said that she'd declined to pursue her PhD at present in order to help Donna and Andy. Which was true enough...

Of course, Jenny knew that Pop was only _too happy_ to keep a distance between her and Jack... Which suited her just fine! Oh, sure, he didn't flirt so much the next time she saw him (a few weeks later), and she'd heard that he was just that much of a flirt, but some things just made a person unacceptable!

She didn't want to imagine what things were like for those who worked for him...

So here she was. Christened Jennifer Catherine Noble, a former child prodigy with advanced degrees and helping to protect Earth. So she'd taken over what her father had done... in a way... Mostly, she'd been getting used to Earth systems, and gaining field medic experience beyond the basics she knew from Messaline. There was one nasty incursion, but it turned out that the mere mention that she was the Doctor's Daughter was enough to frighten them into fleeing.

Her father apparently had a reputation... She would find ways of using it to her advantage...

She came back to the present when she heard a thump. Rose had dropped herself into a chair, and was pouting so much that Jenny was positive that the fluff had a very limited emotional range. Angry, she noted silently, and frustrated... Better make sure we're ready...

So she quickly went over the plan with Mikey, leaving her Nan and Great-Gramps no clue what they were up to...

Just as well. The target needed to be in the dark as long as possible... But maybe they'd wait a little longer. Might be a good idea to wait till I can tell Mum's had the baby; I do want Dad to actually see what a bad idea it is to keep Rose around since she doesn't like Mikey... Especially since Dad was so entranced by everything he did...

Mikey sensed she was thinking about him, and beamed. _Uncle Doctor gonna send Mean Girl off?_

Jenny grinned back at him. _Soon... Very soon... Especially because I think our sibling's about to join us, and we want "Uncle Doctor" to see Rose for what she is..._

/=/=/=/_  
><em>

"Which one of you is the father?" asked the midwife when she came in.

The question startled both males in the room. "Technically that's me," replied Andy.

"What do you mean 'technically', you dumbo? You ARE the father," Donna admonished him.

"Well… I didn't know if she meant me or the baby," he tried defending himself.

"Of course she meant the baby! She doesn't give a monkey's arse about YOU!" Donna snorted.

Rubbing his neck, the Time Lord muttered, "This could get awkward." Better take some control here. "Hello, I'm the Doctor, and Donna asked me to be here to help keep her calm," he explained as he took the midwife aside. "There might be complications, and she has always found my presence a comfort."

_Bloody cheek! _raged into his mind from both Donna and Andy.

_I've got to tell her something, haven't I? Otherwise she might think we're some kind of threesome_, the Doctor tetchily replied.

_We ARE some kind of threesome, just not… THAT… kind_, Donna pointed out.

The Doctor laughed internally while giving the midwife his best 'trust me' smile. It eventually worked, since this incarnation was – as Donna had once joked – a natural flirt. And so he was allowed to stand on Donna's other side... and share in the pain of getting a hand squeezed within an inch of its life...

As it was, he wouldn't have missed this moment for the universe! Taking hold of Donna's hand and sharing her experience had opened his mind to a whole new world… Together he and Andy helped her visualise everything so deeply, as though it were a marathon with the end in sight. But in this case he was able to commune with Donna, Andy and the baby. Aw, she was sweet! Her tiny mind reached out to them like a gentle breeze, questing knowledge as she did so, and pulsing little snippets of emotion that could only be explained as love. The Doctor knew he would do everything in his power to keep her healthy and well for the rest of her life.

And just like with Mikey, he would fight hard to ensure that it was a _long_ life...!

He was so wrapped up in greeting his niece that he clean forgot that he was supposed to be helping Donna shield her pain from Jenny and (especially!) Mikey for a split second; but he soon fixed that. He didn't want them getting any unwelcome backlash.

He worried that the device wasn't going to be enough, and kicked himself for not realizing that a delay might happen. So he wound up getting the brunt of Donna's cursing as she pushed and struggled her way through for a few hours. He almost got some cursing from Andy when Donna started to feel the need to push. Well, he'd innocently offered to give Donna's leg his body to brace against when the midwife couldn't do it all on her own; but Andy had nipped that idea in the bud. _She's MY wife, and I'll help with this bit, thank you very much!_ Andy had thrown at him.

_Fine_, the Doctor thought back; _this way I avoid all the gore_. It also meant that the Doctor got to sit behind Donna so that she could brace herself against his chest as she pushed, holding both hands. She obviously wasn't going to let him get away scot-free. He could feel every muscle strain, every nerve ending scream, the baby's confusion as strong contractions tried to force her out; and all pain free thanks to his device, once he'd surruptiously sonicked an adjustment. Andy had covered for him by apologising for his phone alarm going off.

Never had he thought he'd get the chance to experience such a thing with Donna; there was only one other way he could have been more closely connected to her.

"Nearly there, Donna," the midwife encouraged her. "Just one more push."

"I can see her!" Andy cried out. "Come on, Donna. You can do it."

_You can do anything, Donna_, the Doctor told her. _We're almost there! _And then suddenly there was calm; perfect calm. His job was done, so he deactivated the device on Donna's arm; and for a brief moment thought that was it.

But when the midwife placed the little girl on Donna's chest... a beautiful _ginger_ girl! Oh, he was crying as much as Andy was over the sight of her...

"What do you think?" Donna asked softly as she caressed her new daughter.

"Beautiful!" Andy replied as he gazed at them both in wonder. He planted a grateful kiss on Donna's cheek and then tenderly kissed his daughter's head. "She's so… I don't know how to describe how wonderful she is!"

Donna wiped at his teary eyes with her free hand. "You dafty! Do you want to hold her for a minute?"

Andy quickly encompassed the baby in his tender care, cooing softly at her as he sat himself down.

Donna leant her head back to try and look the Doctor in the eye. "And how was it for you, Doctor?" she asked him.

He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "I'd do this again, if you want me to. She really is beautiful, Donna," he quietly answered her; and placed a kiss on her cheek too.

She smiled in relief at him before suggesting they adjust their position so that she could regain her modesty and he could regain the usage of his legs. He chuckled, knowing she was covering up her embarrassment at enjoying his close proximity. At least she hadn't shouted "Hands!" at him this time.

"Would you go and bring Mikey in for me? I can feel that he's really agitated right now, and I want him to meet his new little sister," Donna asked the Doctor as soon as they'd shifted their positions.

The Doctor looked over to where Andy sat on the other side of the bed, still deeply engrossed in talking to his daughter; and he tried to quell his pain of regret. "Anything for you," he told Donna, giving her another congratulatory kiss on the cheek; and then he headed out to the corridor to face whatever would greet him out there.

But he paused on his way out, to look back on the scene he was leaving. He ignored the activity of the midwife and her assistant, and focused on Donna's fond and indulgent gazing upon Andy holding their daughter. How enthralled Andy was with Effie, and how the girl's little mind was soaking in all his words and mental love...

He'd missed Mikey's first moments... He wasn't going to miss Effie's firsts! He had to be there for her first telepathic words, her first steps, and everything in-between and after!

For the first time in a long while, he had a moment of total clarity. He had to simply tell Rose that if she couldn't stand his family coming aboard, then she could pack her bags and go back to her relatives. Oh, she'd yell, but he would be firm. He was correcting for his mistake at Bad Wolf Bay as best as possible.

He sighed, and opened the door. Time to get this over with...


	3. Rose Triggers the Oncoming Storm

Author's Note: If you haven't read BMG's "Back to Base," my "Eyes Forced Open", the earlier two parts of "Return" and BMG's DVD extras for this story, PLEASE stop and read them first! 'Cause none of this will make any sense without it.

Oh, and be ready for this chapter. I'd like to note something that happened today that made me snicker. I was mildly complaining about how if a character comes across as an idiot to me, then I don't care what the canon says; they're an idiot who either should never have been created or allowed to grow the f*** up. My dad retorted, "Or cannon fodder."

That cracked me up, because I was thinking of Rose when I said it. :D

* * *

><p>PART THREE: Rose Triggers the Oncoming Storm<p>

Rose Tyler sat glumly in the chair. Hospital chairs were apparently more comfortable in the birthing section, but it wasn't a consoling thought. Her Doctor had run off to Donna Noble's side because she was in labour. Didn't he remember that she had her own version of him, and didn't need his assistance?

It just made her worry, once again, that if the Duplicate had fallen so completely for Donna Noble, then maybe it was partly because the Doctor himself harboured similar feelings toward Donna... And the thought made Rose sick.

Especially when his not listening to her earlier pleas made that thought seem all-too real... Her fingers went straight to the TARDIS key that the Doctor – as she'd first met him – had given her. It had been her comfort on Pete's World. She'd stared at it, touched every last part of it, and wondered if it could be used to help her find a way back...

"What that?"

The voice of Donna and the Duplicate's child startled Rose, and she was more stunned to see the boy had walked right up to her and was staring at the key. Openly curious as he looked from the key to her and back again.

Rose tried to remember how she'd handled Tony's questions. It wasn't really a help when this boy reminded her so much of the Doctor she'd come to love.

Wilf looked at the object of Mikey's question. "That's a key, Mikey. You've seen your Mummy and Daddy use them."

"But what that key?" Mikey hated it when grown-ups didn't give him a good answer. He knew what a key was! He just knew he couldn't say that Jenny had pointed Mean Girl's key out as a place to start annoying her. Nanny and Great-Gramps just wouldn't see why he was doing this, but they were weird that way. Still, he loved them!

"I suppose that's a key to the TARDIS, innit?" Wilf noticed that he'd seen something like it in Donna's possession a few times. The first was right after the world was saved from those weird aliens who tried to choke the air with gas. Oh, how pleased Donna had been with that gesture of trust! (Which was how he sensed she saw it as.) And then a few times when she was feeling really depressed about her and Andy being dumped on Earth, as though it held the answers to all her questions if she just thought hard enough.

Mikey looked at it, taking a few steps closer than he normally would. This Mean Girl made him really nervous, but he trusted that Jenny and Nanny would keep her back. "Mummy has key like that!"

Rose flinched. She hated reminders that the Doctor had trusted others in that way. "She lives on Earth. Of course she'd have keys like this."

Mikey fixed a hard gaze on her, looking scarily like the Doctor. Although there was something else in his eyes that made Rose even more uneasy. "No, one _just_ like that!"

Not wanting to talk further about it, Rose waved him off. "Go play with your sister."

She hadn't counted on Jenny. "He actually wants to talk with you, and you're blowing him off for being a curious little boy?" The Time Lady tossed as much scorn as she could into her voice, trying to not smirk over the teenage whining she could sense coming up. "For being just a little version of his father and uncle?"

Down the hall, the Doctor was slowly heading their way. His thoughts were on the new baby he'd just met, but the telepathic signals being given off from the waiting area intruded... and told him that things were about to get worse...

Rose glared at the blonde interloper. She didn't like thinking of the boy as being anything like the Doctor – as much as he resembled him. "I don't need to give you any of my time."

Mikey looked at her with questioning eyes. She not very smart, he thought. Not like Mummy or Nanny or Great-Gramps or Daddy or Unka Doctor. That gave him a thought. "Are you a real 'panion?"

That made Rose blink. "What?"

"Companion," Jenny translated. "Mikey, what do you mean?" _Keep going_, she added, _she's getting really annoyed_...

"D'you 'elp him, or give him trouble?"

Rose scoffed. "What kind of question is that?"

Mikey gave a version of the Doctor's patented oh-don't-be-so-thick look. "A real 'panion is brill. They 'elp my Unka Doctor and keep him outta trouble. Mummy was best at it. Daddy says so. He share Unka Doctor's mem-ries, and Unka Doctor and Daddy both say she's 'portant and pretty. One who not a real 'panion makes Unka Doctor's job harder. He hasta do more to save the day 'cause of them."

Jenny smirked over the growing redness in Rose's face. Ah, she silently crowed, you don't like hearing that he thinks another woman is lovely! And being told you're a weight rather than a help! You are on your way out, you great big bint!

Rose tried to reign herself in. The scary mother of Donna Noble was sitting right across from her, and she still remembered the slap. However, this little boy seemed determined to get on her last nerve. Accusing her of not being a real companion? "Well, friends say nice things about each other – no matter what the truth is."

Mikey's eyes narrowed at her, and he laughed. "Silly! Unka Doctor doesn't lie about Mummy! I said Daddy says Mummy is always beautiful, and Unka Doctor smiled and said he's right!"

Hands shaking, Rose's lips thinned. "She's older," she muttered, as much to convince herself as to put the little runt into his place, "and was probably lucky to get pregnant with you."

Mikey frowned, shaking his head. "Auntie Martha disgrees. She says Mummy can give me more sises and brodders 'cause the... Meta-Crisis" he stumbled over the phrase "is keepin' her young!"

The idea that there could be more brats of that woman who all of Space and Time considered The Most Important Woman in All of Creation to draw the Doctor away from her side made Rose's glare turn absolutely frosty. I'll put a stop to this, she vowed, I will! "Before you know it, I will not need to deal with you. He will see that he doesn't need any of you!"

The Doctor's head snapped up, as he was close enough to overhear the last sentence. His eyes widened and he rushed forward to see what was happening. More to the point, what was making Rose act so nasty toward an innocent boy! He could feel Mikey getting far more uneasy, and a bit scared.

Mikey's eyes widened, his nose sniffling. "You lie! You wrong! Unka Doctor loves us! He won't leave us!"

The Doctor overheard that, stopping just around the corner. What was Rose saying to him?

Rose shot dagger eyes at him. "Just because your mummy saved all of creation doesn't mean you shouldn't have been put down at birth!" Feeling pushing to her limits, she raised a hand in a clearly threatening manner.

Sylvia shot up at the same time Jenny did. But before anyone could say anything or Mikey could run to the nearest adult, the Doctor – hackles raised – flew forward and boomed: "Rose Tyler!"

All bodies in the vicinity froze. Mikey ran as soon as he saw his uncle. "Unka Doctor!" he cried openly. "Don't leave us!"

The Doctor, eyes fixed on Rose and brimming with the Storm, bent to pick up the crying boy. He held him close, and touched their foreheads, trying to soothe the upset even with his own shaking anger raging throughout his body. He closed his own eyes to try to settle his thoughts. Mikey clung to him, shaking and crying, unable to think clearly or speak – in any way.

Sylvia walked right up to the Doctor. "If you love my grandson, you will not bring... that..." she pointed at Rose "around here ever again!"

Jenny rushed up to her father. "Please, Dad, don't you see what she's really like? She's not good for you! When was she _ever_ good for you?"

Rose found her voice and stormed up, wanting to silence the interloper. "Doctor-!"

"Hush!" His voice came out as a hiss. It froze everyone again. No one could remember him sounding so dangerous. Not even in anger. He opened his eyes and fixed on Rose, who drew back in shock. "You were going to hit him. An innocent boy who's the closest thing I now have to a son."

The girl who thought of herself as the Bad Wolf found tears in her eyes as it dawned on her that she'd gone too far in his eyes. She shook her head, trying to find a way out.

The Doctor gently stroked Mikey's hair, like he'd seen Donna do the first time he'd met him. "I ignored how much you did that could have damaged the multi-verses in trying to find me because I thought I needed you. I was wrong. Donna proved that I _could_ live without you... within a _day_ of having lost you... I just didn't listen to the lesson at the time because she declined to come that time, and Martha paid the price. And so have Donna and Andy, and even Jenny and Mikey." His gaze hardened ever further, self-disgust flowing through his soul. "But no more. Rose Tyler, you will go back into the TARDIS and pack what you have in your room and be ready to return to your relatives within an hour. If you aren't packed, I will dump you there and then jettison your room and anything still in it into a black hole."

Jenny's heart lightened, even within the gravity of the situation. Wilf and Sylvia sighed in relief. The danger was about to go away. Mikey heard that Rose was going away, and hugged his uncle in gratitude.

Rose's mouth trembled. She vaguely remembered him admitting to having done that with a few rooms within the TARDIS, and how he wished he hadn't done it to one in particular. She couldn't recall which it was – not that she could've under the circumstances. "Excuse me...?" she cried.

The Doctor glared harder at her. "I can't undo not leaving you with your mother, but I can do right by my family. Which you were never a part of. Now, are you going willingly or by force?"

She shook in shock.

Andy rushed up. "What's going on? Donna and I could feel Mikey crying!"

"Rose is going back to her relatives for good," the Doctor firmly announced, turning to give Mikey to his father. "Mikey, go to your Daddy, He'll take you to see your Mummy and your little sister. I'll be back soon. Just have to make sure the... Idiot here does what I want her to."

Hearing the name he used to call Mickey used to refer to herself was an indignant shock to Rose. And made her squawk.

Andy's eyebrows raised. "What happened?" he asked, holding Mikey tightly and drying the tears with his sleeve.

Jenny almost growled, "Rose said he shouldn't have been born, and she raised a hand to hit him."

That triggered the Storm within Andy, and he turned his own flashing eyes on Rose, who backed away at the double dose before her. "Go away," he ground out. "Before _I_ go and make sure you're never coming back."

The united front before her made Rose's insides sink. Now she could call something else the worst day of her life...

* * *

><p>Donna was holding Effie in her arms, waiting impatiently for answers. Mikey's mental cry had startled her out of her happy moment, and forced her to struggle to keep calm enough to not alarm the new baby. Effie could sense something wasn't right, which was hard to ignore when she'd been in Andy's arms when they sensed Mikey's cries and then was transferred into Donna's quickly.<p>

She was contemplating getting up, despite her pain, when Jenny opened the door and hurried into the room. The others were behind her. "Mum," she cried, relieved, "Rose is going away for good! Dad's sending her off back to relatives, never to go back for her!"

Her eyebrows raised, and she eyed the puffy eyes in her son, who was clinging to his father. _What_, she demanded of Andy and Jenny _happened_?

Andy sighed. "Rose got so angry over something that she nearly hit our boy."

Donna nearly rose off the bed. "What?"

Effie squirmed, and Sylvia took her. "But the Doctor saw it, and had enough. He's making sure that the tart takes her things and never comes back."

Donna froze for a moment, but revived when Mikey was passed to her. _Mummy_, he cried, _the Mean Girl tried to hurt me! She said mean things about me!_

She held him tightly. "Oh, she'll never come near you again! I promise you, my little monkey." She rubbed his back and touched their foreheads. She looked at Andy. _What exactly happened to provoke Rose's nasty temper?_

Andy looked on as Sylvia and Wilf doted on Effie and helped Jenny learn to hold a baby. _I think Jenny and Mikey deliberately provoked her, wanting her to do something that the Doctor couldn't forgive._

Her eyes widened. And she looked at her eldest, trying to not let on about her feelings. _What the hell_, she ground out, focusing so only Andy would hear, _was Jenny thinking?_

_I bet they didn't think she'd get that angry_, Andy added, rubbing her shoulders. _We do have to talk with them later on..._

Donna frowned, but kept her soothing touches on her son. _I guess things were coming to a head... She wasn't going to accept him having us as a family, was she?_

Andy shook his head. _She just wanted him to herself...but he loves our children too much to be away. I think he's as wrapped around Effie's finger as I am..._ He grinned.

_You're probably right. _Donna smirked at the memory of how awed the Doctor had been._ But I agree._ Donna sighed. _Jenny can't do anything like that again, so we have to find some punishment for her._

He rubbed his neck._ Trouble is, her dad is going to have to remember to thank her one day... I think he was at a loss about how to make Rose leave without being a complete arse about it._

Donna found a tiny grin. _He is rubbish at feelings and making things clear when it's not a life-or-death situation._

* * *

><p>About an hour later, the Doctor entered the room. Donna was once again holding Effie, and the family stood around her – only looking up when he entered. "Hello," he said, tiredly. "How's Mikey?"<p>

"Calmer," Wilf said softly. Mikey was in his arms now, dozing in a plainly troubled sleep. "But he's been afraid you wouldn't come back."

Gutted over the pain he'd unwillingly brought the boy (and his family), the Doctor carefully drew Mikey into his arms, trying to not jostle the sleeping tot. Jenny quietly demanded, "Well? Is she gone?"

The Doctor nodded, the weight of the day piling on him. The only thing that might relax him was seeing Donna's children, holding them. He made sure Mikey's ear was right over his hearts, knowing that the sound would reassure the boy. "The day must've been rough on his young mind if even his mummy couldn't calm him," he murmured sadly.

Andy frowned. Now was not the time to tell him about what he suspected Jenny and Mikey had done, but he had to know. Donna had agreed that the punishment – whatever it would be – wouldn't be effective unless the Doctor stood with them in handing it down.

Mikey stirred a little, sensing a change in the things he was hearing in his sleep. When he realized he was hearing two heartbeats, he woke almost fully in an instant and looked up. "Unka Doctor! You back!" And threw his arms around his uncle's neck.

The Doctor felt tears in his eyes for the second time that day, but he didn't fight these like he had the earlier ones. He knew he deserved pain for what he put his family through, and rubbed the boy's back. _Shh_, he told his nephew, _I'll be here a lot more. Just you see. I'm keeping this promise._

Mikey managed to bounce a bit. Now he felt he could let the day go away, and pulled back. _You seen my little sister?_

_Yes, and she's as amazing as you are._ He was delighted by the beaming smile he got in response, and hugged him again.

"Well," Donna sighed, "what're your plans now, Spaceman? We'll be seeing you how often?"

Mikey pulled back and pouted. _You not staying?_

Andy laughed. "Mikey, he goes around helping people. He'll have to go every so often."

"But," the Doctor stressed, looking his nephew in the eye, "I'll be back. I want to see you and Effie grow up, and nothing's going to keep me from that."

Jenny grinned, now finally able to once again relax around her father. "Then you're going to stick around while we adjust to Effie being here in the world? I was told you didn't do domestic."

He opened his mouth to protest, but his phone rang. He quickly grabbed it, not wanting to make anyone upset at Donna. He pressed the speakerphone option. "Yes?"

"Doctor," Martha said, sounding odd, "we need your help."

Everyone blinked, but the Doctor forced out an answer. "UNIT? Donna just had the baby!"

"Oh, that's wonderful!" They heard the smile over the phone, but the tone quickly went grim. "But we got a rather surprising message through the Rift in Cardiff. It calls for your help... and it's from Pete's World."

Andy, Donna, and the Doctor all stared at the phone in shock.


	4. Rose's Departure and a Surprise Arrival

PART FOUR: ROSE'S DEPARTURE AND A SURPRISE ARRIVAL

"You realize how dangerous this is, right, Doctor?" Mickey eyed him carefully. "This is crazy!"

Jack snorted. "Since when has that stopped him?"

The Doctor grimaced, but otherwise pretended to ignore Jack. "Pete's data can't be denied. The Dimension Cannon left something in Rose that's keeping the holes between the universes open, and that's slowly destroying his world. We have to send Rose back, and this is the safest way for both universes."

Jenny worked on part of the device, standing right beside him. "But we can make it work. She'll be back with her mother, and both worlds will be safe." And I'll never have to see her again!

Andy looked over the computer's calculations. "But the energy transfer needs a balance. They have to send someone over to our world or there'll be a massive explosion."

"I told Pete that already," the Doctor assured him. "He's finding someone who's willing to cross over and start a new life, and he said he had some people in mind to ask. The person is there and ready. Now we need to do this within twenty minutes or things could become permanently damaged. Is everyone here ready?"

Nearby, Donna – holding a sleeping Effie – and Martha watched the progress. Martha eyed her friend. "How is she?" Her face softened when she looked at the baby.

Donna beamed. "Three days old, and already babbling and smiling and laughing. Her daddy and her uncle got her first smiles yesterday." She smirked over the memory, even as her pride in her daughter's development shone through. "You should've seen how they melted."

Martha grinned evilly. "Did you take pictures?" Oh, I want copies for blackmail, should I need something to hold over the Doctor!

Donna smirked. "Mum did. Jenny wondered if that was what he would've looked like had she been born a child. Her confusion was adorable."

Any further talk was cut off as several UNIT officers walked up. In the middle was Rose Tyler. Her eyes looked haunted. Clearly, she'd been informed that her begging the Doctor to let her stay had put her mother in danger. And, mercifully, the girl had more than enough love for her parent to feel the weight of what it meant. She chanced to look in Donna's direction, and turned away in horror over the measured glare she got. Donna Noble could not forget nor forgive the raised hand toward Mikey – who was safely with her mother and grandfather, inside nearby UNIT headquarters.

The Doctor looked up when he sensed Jenny tense, placing a hand over hers in warning. _You will be quiet and let her leave without a scene. Is that clear?_

She glared at him, but nodded when he met her eyes with the grimmest look she'd ever seen, one that beat the harshest one she remembered from Messaline. After all, she could afford to be quiet. She'd won, hadn't she?

Although she remembered seeing Mum, Dad, and Pops talking quietly amongst themselves recently, and occasionally looking her way with tight expressions. They couldn't possibly punish her for doing something that was to everyone's benefit, could they?

"Right, we're ready." The Doctor eyed the signals from Pete's World. "And we've got the alert. They're ready, too. Rose, get into the middle, there."

Rose noticed, just as Donna and Andy had, that the device they'd fashioned bore a frightening resemblance to the one that had sent Donna – in that temporarily existing parallel world – back to stop herself from turning right. She swallowed as she saw that the Universe was playing a cruel joke on her, by making her do what Donna had done: go back to right a danger that she had caused. Only she didn't have the comfort of knowing it didn't really happen...

Tears formed in her eyes as she also noticed that the Doctor was completely focused on his task. She'd had a week to contemplate what happened at that hospital, and a few choice words from her relatives had made one thing very clear: she had misjudged the Doctor's feelings for her completely. Whatever he had felt for her once, it was gone now. Utterly replaced by something... deeper... that he felt toward Donna. And it had flown into the Duplicate.

There was nothing left for her in her home-world. Mickey had moved on, marrying another companion and hardly looking her way, either. Her relatives, ones she had not appreciated when she hadn't known the Doctor, had little patience with her anymore. And now... she had the hardest proof that the Doctor himself was simply past his endurance with her.

So she took tighter hold of her remaining things, which she'd hurried packed twice (once when the Doctor's fury seemed ready to unleash on her, and just recently when the soldiers told her she had to go with them), and went into the centre of the device... just as willingly as she remembered Donna doing in the end. She took a deep breath. "Just do it, Doctor."

There was nothing left to say to any of them. It was time she found herself some self-respect.

The Doctor took brief stock of how stoic Rose was finally acting, how she wouldn't meet his eyes anymore. Whether it was because she wanted to maintain some dignity or because she refused to look at him anymore, he wasn't sure, and he really didn't want to know. He had enough regrets to last all of his lives. He didn't need to add to them by seeing something to make him feel any more pain. He checked the signal. "Okay, the other person is in place. Synching the signals..."

Everyone watched as the events proceeded, no one daring to speak other than the Doctor as he called out the countdown to activation. Martha grabbed her medical equipment, and Donna put a special headset over Effie's ears; the Doctor did suggest things would get very loud shortly. Andy, Jenny, Jack, and Mickey helped keep the machine running – and braced themselves for the noise. Rose closed her eyes as the Doctor announced, "Transfer beginning!"

The light exploded around Rose, and the noise made Effie cry – despite her protection. Donna held her tightly, grateful she'd remembered to put in earplugs before protecting Effie's hearing. Jenny flinched, wondering how much any human could handle such loudness.

Finally, the light began to fade and the machine powered down (to never be usable again, the Doctor prayed), and Rose was gone. In her place stood a woman, who promptly fell to her knees and threw up. The hood on her jacket fell over her head, hiding her color and details as the light went away.

Martha rushed to her side. "I'm Dr. Martha Jones, and you're in London. My colleagues and I will help you adjust."

The woman managed a nod, but couldn't stand. She didn't seem to think her stomach could handle it.

The Doctor, satisfied that the machine had shut itself down and would therefore be unusable from here out, rushed to join Martha. "That kind of travel isn't easy on anyone. Even I would've been queasy."

The woman lifted her head. "Shut it!"

Everyone froze over the voice, but none more than the Doctor when the woman's face came into his view...and he knew it as well as he did the voice. Donna Noble! "What?"


	5. Another Double?

Author's Note: And now I offer this fic-verse back to bas_math_girl – although I may be co-writing it in the end. :) It's been a fun little trip. :D

* * *

><p>PART 5: ANOTHER DOUBLE?<p>

The Doctor led the rag-tag group deeper into UNIT Headquarters, where their new arrival had been taken by Martha for a check-up. Dr. Jones' ability to compartmentalise had allowed her to get over her own shock and order help in bringing her new patient to a treatment room. If nothing else, to make sure that the dimension travel hadn't harmed her.

"Two Donnas," Jack mused, a grin splitting his face. "This will be fun."

"Stow the flirting, Captain Hotpants," Jenny growled. She was having enough trouble deciding whether this meant she would have two mothers, or how difficult life must have been in Pete's World for her mother's alternate to agree to cross over. She didn't need Jack flirting with anyone right now. It was still disgusting remembering when she learned about his (still there, evidently) thing for her father, and she didn't want to think about what he might feel toward Mum or Pops!

Donna, Andy (holding Effie in his arms), and the Doctor blinked and looked at Jenny. She was gaining some strange vocabulary from working with the younger members of UNIT, and her father – in particular – wasn't sure how he felt about her acting... well, so much like a human twenty-something.

Wilf, walking alongside Sylvia and carrying Mikey (who couldn't make sense of what he was picking up from the adults and his older sister), looked worried. "She isn't going to have problems even existing because of our Donna? I mean, can there be two of one person in the same universe?"

Jack perked up, happy to have some science to answer. "You mean like on that American show, Stargate? No, entropic cascade failure is pure science fiction. It's more you can't let someone touch a past or future self from their own time-line. That causes huge paradoxes."

"As Rose should've learned," the Doctor grumbled under his breath. That memory still stuck out like a sore, swollen thumb in a cast. It was proof that he'd been too afraid of being alone to let Rose go afterward, and he had thought about it. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing that he'd ignored it, but – then again – if doing otherwise it meant that Mikey and Effie wouldn't exist, then he'd live with his regrets.

Donna and Andy exchanged looks. _Yeah, nearly getting killed by the stupidity of the girl who said she loved you would make anyone think twice_, Andy snorted.

She just nodded. The children were feeling the confusion around them, and were fussing a bit. She paused to take Mikey from his Great-Gramps, sensing that he'd want to be held when he saw another version of his own mother.

Mickey trailed behind, silently taking in everyone's reactions. He wasn't sure what to make of this development, but it wouldn't be boring. That was certain!

They found one of the soldiers who helped earlier, guarding a door. He snapped a salute (the Doctor couldn't get the people around here to stop doing that no matter what he said, and it didn't help that Donna would accept them – whereas Andy chose to ignore them) and nodded. "Dr. Jones says the patient is well and ready to talk a bit."

At the Doctor's nod, the soldier (whose nametag, the Doctor finally spotted, said "Matthews") opened the door. The group filed in. Martha was standing with her back to them, speaking softly to the woman lying (now comfortably) on the medical bed. Her colour had returned, and the Doctor took the most complete visual stock of her. The hair and face and eyes were the same, but she was a bit thinner than he would've expected for Donna Noble. She had a haunted look in her eyes that he'd only ever seen in people who'd seen their entire world (be it their home, city, country, or even planet) destroyed.

Come to think of it, time moved differently in Pete's World. Rose had spent ten years there (and hadn't aged much thanks to the TARDIS' affect on companions). Shouldn't this Donna look older? If anything, she looked younger than his Donna. Oh, right, he remembered with an unhappy sigh, she wasn't his Donna. Never had been, thanks to his own stupidity.

The Doctor shook off his thoughts when Martha spoke. "Everyone, meet Donna Eileen Noble, of Pete's World. I've mentioned about our Donna," she added when the two women's eyes met and widened, "and she's thinking about what she's willing to be known as."

The Donna on the bed sighed, resigned. "Oh, I guess I'll live with Ginger for now. But _only_ until I come up with something better. I've still got too much of a headache from that bloody jump." She noticed the little boy whose eyes were wider than dinner plates and the sleeping baby girl, and tears formed in her eyes. "Your son and daughter?"

Donna nodded. "Mikey," she said, "and Effie can think of you as an aunt, if you don't mind."

"Let me think about it." The answer was soft, filled with the pain of memories and lost chances. Then she caught sight of Sylvia and Wilf, and a sob escaped her throat.

The Doctor's eyes watered. He had a suspicion about what might've happened to her family, and wished that he'd known about her and could've done something to help her out.

Sylvia and Wilf knew the look of someone who had lost so much. They knew how it could feel. So they gently nudged everyone else aside. "There, there, child," Sylvia said softly, stunning the Doctor as she folded her daughter's alternate into an embrace – which Wilf added to.

No one was surprised when the sobbing got louder as "Ginger" clutched the people who – to her – were her family's alternates. Jack and Mickey stepped out of the room out of respect, but the Doctor stayed put; he felt he had to witness the depth of her pain, as he hadn't forgiven himself for the hurt he'd caused Donna.

It was a while before Sylvia and Wilf had calmed her down enough that she could speak again, but they didn't let her go. Instead, they managed to sit themselves on either side of her, keeping contact to – they hoped – ground her. Jack stuck his head in to see what happened, and led Mickey back in on Sylvia's nod.

Donna cleared her throat, and quickly gave the introductions, pointing to each person. "So you know who I am. This is Michael Peter Noble, my son. That's Andrew "Andy" Noble, my... everything... and Mikey's father. That's Effie Grace Susan Noble, our daughter. Mickey Smith. Jack Harkness. The Doctor. And Jenny Noble, the Doctor's daughter. I consider her mine, too. It's why she took my last name."

They each got a nod, but the Doctor got a narrowed look. "Oh, you're the one that blonde bint was obsessed with."

Eyebrows went up, but none higher than the Doctor's. "Ah, so you... you've heard of me."

"Ginger" grimaced. "Hard to not know when you suddenly find yourself nearly twenty years into the future, your whole family's been taken by the Cybermen, and your own skillset is suddenly completely out of date. Pete Tyler told me that Rose evidently hit upon some time travel device and tried to make it work. Instead, it caught me and flung me into the future. I was a successful woman, with a fiancée and a promising career. I came back to a world completely changed... and everyone I loved was dead. My friends didn't know what to do for me, and I couldn't get work."

More than a few breaths were caught. The Doctor's face fell. "That's why you agreed to cross over?"

"That and I didn't want to actually have to meet the Heiress. I would've beaten her to a..." She caught herself when she remembered little ears were in the room. "Well, I wouldn't have been nice."

"That's okay," Mikey said. "She was mean."

She raised her eyebrows. "Well, nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks so. Who uses things without trying to find out what they might do first?"

Donna, Andy, Jack, Mickey, and Jenny tried to not look at the Doctor. They weren't careful enough.

The Doctor, still feeling the silent reprimand, cleared his throat. "Well, we will help you adjust, and I'll do anything I can to help. I know it's my fault you're in this moment, so whatever you need, just ask."

The Donna on the bed looked at him, noting the earnest wish and a guilt that seemed bottomless, and sighed. She shook her head. "Doctor, surely someone who travels the universe won't have time to deal with a little human like me."

His eyes narrowed. He didn't like anyone speaking ill of Donna, not even herself. He tilted his head toward his universe's Donna. "She was a companion, the best. Her children are my nephew and niece. So I'm going to be around a lot anyway. If you're willing," he added, on a moment of hope and inspiration, "I can take you to wherever you'd like. You can do whatever you want, and we'll give whatever help you want." Or need, he silently added.

She looked at him, puzzled. "Me, a time traveller?"

Wilf squeezed her hand. "Oh, she," he gestured to his granddaughter, "doubted it, too, but it was the best thing she's ever done. She's gained a lovely adoptive daughter, had two children in addition, and has the best partner possible. Not to mention how much she's able to do because of what she's seen and done. Don't underestimate yourself."

She went thoughtful. How much would that involve, she wondered, and can I really handle it? But on the other hand, she realised in the next moment, it'd be something to keep me occupied...

The Doctor saw the contemplation of the offer, and felt a stirring of hope that he hadn't felt since Donna was travelling with him. No, it wouldn't be the same, but what a lovely change of pace! He'd have a Donna Noble in the TARDIS again, and things would be brilliant again!

Everyone else was wondering how the new Donna would adjust to life here. But no one was worried for her. She had a huge support network now, and they could remind her how much she could do.

Jenny meanwhile, was eyeing how her father reacted. Hmm... Dad's in love with Mum, but can't have her. And now here's her alternate, alone and needing support – and he's going to offer the status of a companion to her because he wants a Donna Noble in the TARDIS again. Might I gain a step-mother from this...? And do I dare encourage it...?

THE END


End file.
